"Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To......)" Freddie Mercury Copyright 1975 Queen Music Ltd
Join us as we dive deep into one of Queen’s most iconic tracks, “Death on Two Legs,” from their legendary album A Night at the Opera, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. This episode features an in-depth analysis of the song’s history, production, and the individual tracks that make up this classic, along with performance insights from Tyler Warren, who has played this music live with the Queen Extravaganza. Don’t miss this chance to celebrate the music that shaped rock history.
“Death On Two Legs (Dedicated To……)” Freddie Mercury Copyright 1975 Queen Music Ltd
TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome back to the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and each episode here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dive into it together to discover what makes it a great song.
This episode we continue our look at one of the greatest albums ever made,” A Night at the Opera” by Queen, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Last episode, we talked about this album as a whole, what led up to the record, how it was recorded, and an overview of each track. We were joined by author Gillian Gaar, who’s just published a new book all about this album. Go back and listen to that episode for details.
This episode, we’re doing a deep dive on one of my favorite tracks on the album. It’s the song that opens the record and we’ve got a special guest who’ll join us at the end to give us some additional insight on actually performing Queen’s music live, especially the tracks from the “Night at the Opera” album. So let’s do it– Let’s dig into “Death on Two Legs” by Queen.
“A Night at The Opera” was Queen’s fourth album, mostly recorded during the summer and fall of 1975. As I mentioned before, we covered the making of this album on our previous podcast, so if you haven’t listened to that one, go back and check it out for the history of this album.
“Death on Two Legs” is the song that opens the album– side one, track one. The full title is actually “Death on Two Legs (Dedicated To…)”. The lyrics never mention who the subject of the song is, but clearly Freddie is not happy with them.
The target of Freddie’s rage was Norman Sheffield, the owner of Trident Studios, along with his brother Barry, and the band’s former managers. This was your classic dispute between artist and manager, with the band claiming they never received the money that they were due, and management maintaining that the band racked up huge expenses and there just wasn’t much money left.
When Norman Sheffield heard that Queen’s new album began with a song that raked him over the coals, he sued the band for defamation. Though Sheffield is never mentioned by name in the song, the band ended up settling out of court for a not insubstantial sum.
“Death on Two Legs” was written by Freddie Mercury and performed by Freddie on vocals and piano, Brian May on guitar and backing vocals, Roger Taylor on drums and backing vocals, and John Deacon on bass. It was produced by Queen and Roy Thomas Baker.
The song begins with the sound of a piano, distant at first, then coming closer to us, the listener.
That heavy riff is played by a distorted guitar and an acoustic upright bass, also known as the double bass, played with a bow. But before that riff appears out of nowhere, you can hear some strange sound effects in the background. My guess is that those were actually played on Brian May’s guitar with some delay or effects added.
Let’s go back and listen to that again in context and see if those sounds jump out at you.
Now you can hear those effects getting louder here.
Brian’s overdubbed some additional guitars here, including a part reminiscent of those violin stabs from the “Psycho” soundtrack.
It’s going to continue to escalate, culminating in a blood-curdling scream, performed by Roger I believe, before it comes to a screeching halt. Literally.
Now were hitting the song proper. The author Martin Power, in his great book “Queen: The Complete Guide to Their Music”, described this song as a “heavy metal tango”. Which is actually a pretty good description.
Before the first verse starts, Brian plays a short guitar solo that has a real exotic feel to it. It’s not your typical rock mode. Let’s listen to that guitar by itself. Couple of things to note here: As usual he’s playing his legendary Red Special guitar. That’s the guitar that he built himself with his dad, made out of a 100-year-old piece of mahogany that came from a fireplace mantle. For amplification, we can assume that he’s playing through a Vox AC30 amp using a Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster pedal, between the guitar and the amplifier; that was his standard setup around this time. Another key element of the Brian May guitar sound is that instead of using a traditional pick, Brian uses a sixpence coin. So you’re actually getting a metal-on-metal sound whenever he picks the strings. So, that combination of all of these things– the custom-built homemade guitar, the AC30 amp, the treble booster pedal, and using a coin for a pick– all of these things contribute to giving Brian one of the most distinctive guitar sounds in all of rock. So let’s hear that solo.
I think you can really hear the sound of that metal coin on the strings. Let’s hear that again in context with the rest of the song.
So here’s the first verse. Right before Freddie’s lead vocal comes in, we get a blast of those famous Queen harmonies. Then Freddie comes in with a vocal that is just spitting venom. Notice how he’s overdubbed the vocal on different tracks so that they overlap ever so slightly on the last word of each line.
All right, there’s a lot going on here. Right before that first chorus, we have a backwards cymbal that’s inserted.
Let’s hear that again in context.
There’s also an interesting drum pattern that Roger Taylor is playing under the chorus. Let’s hear some of that.
Then before the start of the next section, there’s a sound effect that, probably the best way to describe it is, it’s kind of a helicopter sound. I’m pretty sure that sound is made by Brian’s guitar through an Echoplex tape delay.
Let’s play through the next section.
Okay, let’s break down this section. We’ll start with Freddie’s piano, because that’s the part that’s really the foundation for this section. The original working title for this song was “Psycho Legs” because apparently Freddie’s piano playing was so intense.
Now let’s hear how Brian has layered a couple of guitars to thicken up this section.
Now the vocals.
Just wow. One more thing I want to hear before we move along is to listen to Roger Taylor’s drum part during this section,because this is just a classic Roger Taylor performance. Let’s hear it.
All right, let’s put that all back together again and hear the final mix of this section.
That is maybe the most brutal lyric in this whole song.
“Do you feel like suicide? You should.”
He’s basically telling this guy he should kill himself. Let’s go back and pick it up from there.
Another guitar solo from Brian May. This one is much more in a traditional rock vein, but still fantastic. Let’s just hear that guitar first.
And let’s hear what Freddie’s piano was doing under that.
And I haven’t forgotten about John Deacon. Let’s hear what he’s playing on the bass during this section. Theres some nice gritty distortion on the bass all through the track; that’s old studio trick that helps the bass cut through when you’re doing the final mix.
Okay, let’s hear that all put together.
That brings us to the final verse. Let’s play through that. I’ll stop along the way to point out a couple more things.
Nice bass guitar lick there by John Deacon.
And Brian May’s guitar joins in at the tail end of that lick.
And I’ve always loved the way Freddie sings the word “balloon” in this verse.
And let’s listen to the vocals on that part again.
And before we play through the final chorus, let’s highlight a couple more things. First, let’s hear Roger Taylor’s drums again.
And let’s hear John Deacon’s bass one more time.
And let’s hear how Brian’s guitar and Freddie’s piano work together.
On top of that, Brian plays some short little guitar licks; these were actually composed by Freddie on piano, then Brian learned them on guitar.
There are little licks like that throughout the song, which were all Freddie s idea. Okay, let’s put it all back together one final time and listen to this last chorus through to the end of the song.
And that’s it. That’s how the song ends, rather abruptly. On the album. It goes right into the next song, “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon”. And that transition couldn’t be more extreme. Two completely different styles, polar opposites.
And that is just one reason why I love this album: the sheer nerve it takes to open your album with a one-two punch like this. And it keeps going like that through the whole album. It’s incredibly audacious, this album. It’s a masterpiece.
And someone who has experience actually playing this album live, all the way through in front of an audience, is my special guest on this episode, Tyler Warren.
Tyler Warren is a drummer and singer who was recruited by Roger Taylor himself to play in the “Queen Extravaganza”, the Queen tribute that Roger Taylor put together. Then, when Queen hit the road with Adam Lambert, Tyler joined them on stage, playing drums and percussion. So, he knows this music inside out. I met up with Tyler in Nashville at the RockNPod Expo, and we had a brief chat about his experience performing this album live.
BRAD: Well, Tyler Warren, thanks for joining me here at Live at RockNPod. My next episode is focusing on one particular track from “Night at the Opera”, “Death on Two Legs”. And I really wanted to get your insight, because you’ve actually performed this song.
TYLER: Well with his, with the tribute band, official tribute band that he put together, 10 years ago now, called Queen Extravaganza.
BRAD: And you actually played the whole album front to back?
TYLER: We did. We did. We did it a couple of tours where we did “A Night at the Opera” front to back. The first tour we did, it was in two sections, and the first section was all music pre-“Night at the Opera”,. And then the second half was “Night at the Opera”.
BRAD: I mean, that’s quite a lot of music to bite off…
TYLER: I loved it. I love all that stuff. So I was in heaven.
BRAD: And that’s incredible record. And so you played drums and percussion?
TYLER: Yeah, I played drums and sang lead vocals with Queen Extravaganza. And then with Queen, I do percussion and background vocals, stuff Roger doesn’t want to do anymore.
BRAD: So tell us just a little bit about what is it like to work with Roger.
TYLER: It’s like I tell everybody else, like, Roger and Brian– obviously, I have more experience being around Roger– but they are who they are. They’re freaking legends. But they’re humans, too. And whenever we’re hanging out, it’s just like I’m hanging out with. buddies, you know? They just happen to be these massive, gigantic rock stars that are legends, you know?
BRAD: Right, right. So, let’s talk a little bit about this particular song, “Death On Two Legs”. What’s always fascinated me about this song is there’s so many elements, little pieces to that song. What was the most challenging thing about doing that particular song live?
TYLER: Really, the most challenging thing for us, whenever we did it with Extravaganza– with pretty much anything that’s Queen related– is background vocals. Because everything else kind of falls into place and it kind of goes where it needs to go. But we just wanted to make sure that everything we could possibly do is there. And, you know, Roger was, and still is, extremely keen on not using tracks. So everything that we did, we did live.
BRAD: Right. No backing tracks, no fudging it.
TYLER: No, no, no, no, no. So if you screw up, it’s for real. But I would say that definitely the most difficult part was doing the background vocals. And we spent a lot of time making sure we got that one right. Because it’s important for us. Because especially for Roger, back then with the tribute band, the whole reason that he put it together was, he was sick of seeing all these other tribute bands that were way more focused on dressing up like Queen and putting on the mustache and stuff like that, and less focused on representing the songs and the albums as good as they possibly could, and making it something that actually sounded amazing. And that was the whole impetus of Queen Extravaganza; like, we didn’t dress up like them or anything. We just performed. And, you know, there are certain bands where the visual is just as important. You know, if you’re going to see a Kiss tribute, man, you want to see them dressed up in the makeup and stuff, you know? But a band like Queen, the visual is important, so there is a really good live show and everything, but the music is just as important.
BRAD: Right.
TYLER: And another thing I learned from Roger and, even back in the day with Queen, is they knew they couldn’t reproduce those records note-for-note live. So they became their own beast. They became their own little edgy thing live. And, you know, we tried to translate that as much as possible with Extravaganza, and most certainly still do with Queen and Adam Lambert.
BRAD: How difficult you find it in general reproducing some of those songs live, because there’s a lot of studio, I don’t want to say “trickery”, but, like, real production value. I mean, a lot of ways, on “A Night at the Opera”, Roy Thomas Baker is almost like the fifth member of that band, right?
TYLER: Sure. For sure.
BRAD: Yeah. So there’s a challenge there, right? Just getting that sound right.
TYLER: And honestly, like, Death was probably one of the easier ones. I don’t want to downgrade it that way, but it’s a little more straight ahead than some of the other songs on the record. Like, probably the hardest one that we did was… I would say it’s either a cross between “Seaside” and “Prophet Song”, because there was this guy named Mark Martell that was a lead singer in Extravaganza for a while, and when it got to that middle section with the echoes and stuff, you know, we did that live, and if you mess up, it messes up three times. But we worked so hard to make sure that that was good. And yeah, the hardest parts, the vocals; instrumentally, if we know the songs and we know what we’re doing, it comes together. But vocally, we all sang in that group, so we all had to make sure we knew our stuff.
BRAD: So did you sing the Roger parts generally?
TYLER: Yeah. Or just whatever needed to be filled in. I always took the high stuff and then Roger, anything that Roger sang lead on, I would do. Like, “Car” and things like that.
BRAD: So what were some of the other challenging things, aspects, maybe, that we wouldn’t necessarily think about doing that particular album, or just any Queen stuff in general, live?
TYLER: Well, it’s kind of two different beasts. With Extravaganza, we do what we can to do some of those, some of the stuff that they did in the studio that they didn’t do live. Like, with “Seaside”, doing all the mouth trumpets and all that stuff, we would do that, and the ukulele things for “Good Company”. And a lot of it was pre-prep. Like, we would spend a lot of time on our own. Either I or the keyboard player would transcribe vocals and send each other parts. And, like, “you do this, you do this, you do this”, just to make sure that we’re all on the same page.
BRAD: Right.
With Queen, it is totally different because we can, it always comes together. But, like, whenever we get in rehearsals, we really don’t practice the music that much. You would think we would, but… we might, we’ll do, like, top and tail, beginning of a song, end of a song, and if there’s any massive train wrecks, we’ll go through it. Bbut other than that, we’ll spend a little bit on music, a bit on production, and then first show, hopefully everything comes together, and it always tends to. It always seems to be like, the first show is great, the second show is terrible, and then it evens out after that.
BRAD: That’s interesting.
TYLER: Yeah.
BRAD: So you’ve toured with the Adam Lambert version of the band?
TYLER: Yes. Yeah.
BRAD: And what’s it like working with Adam?
TYLER: It’s ridiculous. It is unbelievable what that man can sing, and it’s almost like it’s nothing to him. Like, we can show up for sound check and he’s not warmed up. He might have just woken up or might have just gotten back from a lunch or something. And we get up there and it’s there. And it just seems like it’s nothing to him. His voice is absolutely insane.
BRAD: What a gift, right? Man.
TYLER: And he’s such a nice guy. I just saw him a couple weeks ago because he was doing “Cabaret” in New York, and we saw his last show, March 28, I think. And of course, naturally, he was as ridiculous on that as ever. But he’s got a gift, there’s no doubt about it.
BRAD: Yeah. Well, let’s talk about some of your music. You were telling me you’ve released a couple of singles on your own.
TYLER: I have. I’ve got another band called Flare Light, but we’re kind of on hiatus at the moment. But around Valentine’s Day last year, we were in Japan with Queen and Adam Lambert, and the last show was Valentine’s Day, and I released two singles called “Beautiful Ways” and “Falling Into You”. It’s the first solo stuff that I’ve done in nearly 10 years, I would say. It’s just I’ve been so caught up with Queen and stuff like that, I just hadn’t really had time. But since those two singles, I’ve been kind of getting back into the idea of being a solo artist again. And I’ve been writing, recording, so hopefully I’ll have a record out. And hopefully it’s some time this year. But it’s on Spotify, Apple, all the streamers, wherever you get your music, “Beautiful Ways” and “Falling Into You”.
BRAD: Okay, and that’s under your name?
TYLER: Yes. Tyler Warren.
BRAD: Yeah. Cool. All right, well, thanks, man. I appreciate you coming by, talking a little bit about the record. And we’ll play a little bit of that track to get us out of this episode.
TYLER: There you go.
BRAD: But thank you so much, man.
TYLER: The most vicious Freddie might have ever been. Oh yeah, It’s a great one. Thank you so much. Thank you.
BRAD: Thanks, brother. Appreciate it.
Tyler Warren. I had a good time chatting with him.
Well, this wraps up our special two-parter on Queen’s “Night at the Opera” and the song “Death On Two Legs”.
Of course, “A Night At The Opera”, led by the hit single “Bohemian Rhapsody”, would become the album that broke Queen in the US and around the world. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, there’s about 180 other episodes just waiting for you to discover them. You can find them on your favorite podcast app– Spotify, Pandora, Apple, Amazon, iHeartRadio, whatever podcast player you prefer, you can find us there. Just search for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. Or you can listen on our website, lovethatssongpodcast.com.
You can send your thoughts and comments to lovethatsongpodcast@gmail.com or post them on our Facebook page.
If you’d like to support the show, head on over to oldglory.com and buy a t-shirt or some merch from your favorite bands. They’ve got some quality Queen t-shirts there, and it’s all properly licensed stuff, so the bands don’t get ripped off. And when you use our discount code lovethatsong, you’ll save 15% off anything you buy there, and this show gets a few bucks on the deal, too. So go to oldglory.com, use the discount code lovethatsong, save some money and support this show. Thanks.
From everyone here on the Pantheon Podcast Network– where fans belong– I thank you for listening. I will be back in two weeks with another new episode. Until then, crank up your copy of “A Night At the Opera”.
Now, to play us out, let’s hear a little bit of our friend Tyler Warren and his song “Falling Into You”. You can find it on any of the streaming services, so please make sure you support artists like Tyler. See you next time.
RESOURCES:
Queen: https://www.queenonline.com
A Night at the Opera (Album): https://www.queenonline.com/discography/albums/a-night-at-the-opera
Tyler Warren: https://www.tylerwarrenmusic.com
Roy Thomas Baker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Thomas_Baker
This episode we celebrate the 50th anniversary of one of the greatest ever made– A Night At The Opera by Queen. I’m joined by author Gillian Gaar, whose new book, Queen and A Night at the Opera 50 Years, offers a fascinating look at the making of this legendary record. Together, we explore the unique personalities of the band members, the pressures they faced leading up to the album’s release, and the innovative production techniques that defined their sound.
Each track on A Night At The Opera is a testament to Queen’s eclectic style and musical genius. Join us as we celebrate the artistry behind this classic album and the enduring legacy of Queen. Whether you’re a lifelong fan or new to their music, this episode is a must-listen!
Welcome to another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast on the Pantheon Podcast Network. I’m your host, Brad Page, and on the next couple of episodes, we’re celebrating the anniversary of one of the greatest albums ever made: “A Night At The Opera” by Queen.
Author Gillian Gaar has a brand new book out called “Queen and A Night At The Opera: 50 Years”. This is a great book, and so I’m happy to have her join me for this episode as we dig into this classic album. Here’s our conversation.
Brad Page: All right, Gillian Gaar, thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the podcast. Just a few episodes back, I did a show on all of the amazing records that came out in 1975. It was an incredible year for some classic albums, and one record in particular that’s celebrating its 50th this year, is by any measure, an all-time classic. It’s Queen “Night At The Opera”. And you have a fantastic new book– I have it here, I’ve read it, it’s great. Couldn’t recommend it any higher. You’re kind of giving us the inside scoop on the making of “A Night at the Opera”. So, thanks for coming on the show to talk about the book and about this amazing record.
Gillian Gaar: Well, I’m excited to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
Brad Page: Yeah, thanks for coming on. So, let’s set the stage here. Let’s talk about who Queen was. I think when you look back at, not all, but many of just the legendary bands, there are four very distinct characters, right? John, Paul, George, Ringo… The Who… Led Zeppelin. Each one of those guys is singularly unique in where they fit in those bands and really irreplaceable, I think. And I think Queen is the same way. You had four very distinct individual characters in this band. So, let’s talk a little bit about just who those guys were; Let’s start with Brian May and Roger Taylor, because they were kind of the core of the band and they had sort of been playing together before Queen became Queen, right?
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. In fact, they were all in college, and Freddie Mercury knew them at that time and they were in the band Smile. And Freddie desperately wanted to be in a band, but Smile was a trio, so they couldn’t, he couldn’t really fit himself into that format, but he just hung around. He was an ambitious guy already at that stage; you know, he’d have suggestions for them. “Oh, why don’t you play this song? Why don’t you move like that on stage?” That kind of thing.
Brad Page: Yeah. Freddie kind of weaseled his way into the band just kind of on sheer personality, I think.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I mean once Tim Staffell left and Smile was over, well, then Freddie could step right in. And then it just took a while to find John Deacon. I mean, that’s a kind of interesting aspect about how a band comes together; they had three other bass players that they worked with before John Deacon, and it didn’t say that any of them weren’t necessarily, That John was necessarily so much a better bass player than them. I think they probably perhaps had the same level of skill, but they just weren’t the right fit. And John came along and he was like the last piece of the puzzle, which you see that in retrospect, though it couldn’t have felt like that at the time– they were probably thinking “Are we ever going to find a bass player?” And, kind of like the moment when Ringo joins the Beatles, the last part of the puzzle finally falling into place.
Brad Page: Right. The key piece that fits. And then it just gels, and it’s magic.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah. It’s also interesting, because they are four very different personalities, and yet they all worked well together. I mean, yes, of course they were known for their arguments in the studio and all, but in general they meshed well together. And I think I quoted, it was probably Freddie, or maybe Brian, just saying how he thought that element made them a more interesting group; that you did have all these different people instead of all the same kind of person.
Brad Page: Right. Well, yeah, again, that goes back to where you look at The Beatles, or The Who– I mean, that’s a bandwidth four very distinct characters. Led Zeppelin… John Deacon is kind of that John Paul Jones-type of character, right. The quote-unquote “Quiet One”.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah.
Brad Page: But an incredibly important force. I think every band has a “secret weapon”, Somebody who’s sort of under-the-radar but is so important, and to me, that’s John Deacon and Queen.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, well he turned out giving them some of their most notable hits. And who knows, if he had not been in Queen, if he’d been in some other group, maybe he would not have become a songwriter, because he sort of blossomed with that. He didn’t join and say, “Oh, I have all these songs”. He sort of developed.
Brad Page: Yeah, and we’ll talk about that as we go through the record. So, as we come into 1975, Queen’s got three albums on the books. They’ve had a taste of success with “Killer Queen”. They didn’t really have any hits off the first two records, but “Killer Queen” on the previous album did pretty well.
There’s a thing where, by the time you get to your third record, if you’re not producing hits, there’s a lot of record company pressure. But where do you see the band as they come into this record? Where are they at in their career, in your perspective?
Gillian Gaar: Well, as you say, you know, obviously they hadn’t had the big breakthrough, but they were coming along, as frustrated as they probably felt that the three albums didn’t do better than they hoped. But by the time they made, “Night At The Opera”, they were a headlining act in Britain– not in the US; they had been to the US and were opening for other bands, and so probably the next step would have been to be the headliner. But they were headlining in Britain, so they had come on that much. “Killer Queen” was the first song I remember hearing from them. So that was like the first US breakthrough… I was going to say big hit; It wasn’t a “big hit”, but it got in the Top 40. So, you heard it on the radio, even in the suburbs.
They’ve got a new manager by that time, because they were having, they were having some conflicts with Trident where they were making the records. They were sort of under a management contract with Trident, who was also, I think, looking after their publishing and having them record in Trident Studios, which in Norman Sheffield’s book– he was one of Tritee’s co-owners, the founder, he owned it with his brother. He wrote out pretty interesting book, because the band was saying, “Oh yes, they didn’t pay us enough royalties”, etc. And he said that at the beginning, he didn’t want Trident to be overseeing all those aspects of the band because he just envisioned it generating conflicts of interest down the road, which of course it did, when the band was unhappy. But they brought in John Reid at this time and John said, you know, “Don’t worry about any management issues, record company issues. You just go out and make the best album you can.” So he sort of took that pressure off. He’s like, “Don’t think about business. Your job is to make this record. So just focus on the record and don’t even think about these business issues.” But I know Brian has said he considered it a make-or-break record, because they were on the verge of breaking through. So they were in a good position, they were in a great position for that. But then you have to deliver. And if they’d put out an album that wasn’t as strong, you know, they may have just stayed kind of at that middling success level. You don’t generate the momentum to carry you to the next level. So that was what they were looking to do with “Night at the Opera”. So certainly they themselves felt pressure for that.
Brad Page: Yeah. So they begin rehearsals in July of 1975. And they end up, over the course of the album, they end up using a total of six different studios, I think, between the overdubs and all of that.
Gillian Gaar: Yes. If you want to count the national anthem, it was seven, because they recorded that before that even started proper work on “Night at the Opera”. They recorded it to play at the end of their concerts, because in Britain, they usually play the national anthem at the end of a theatrical performance. And, they thought, well, let’s provide them with a rock version to play. And so they’d already recorded that and decided to put it on the end of “Night at the Opera”.
Brad Page: Before we dig into the record, one more person to talk about, and that’s the producer, Roy Thomas Baker. Talk a little bit about Roy and his role here.
Gillian Gaar: Well, when he was starting out, learning his trade, he actually worked with some opera companies in the studio, which was very helpful, I think. One reason Queen got on so well with him was that he was as experimental as they were. And when they were making Queen II– which one band member, or maybe it was Roy had called it “the kitchen sink album”, because they just threw everything into that. But he had been told by Freddie when they were starting work on it, Freddie saying,” if there are any other crazy ideas you want to try that other bands wouldn’t let you do, you could do them on this album”. So they were both interested in experimenting and pushing the studio technology. So they were lucky in having Roy with them, because he was just as excited to see what could be done in the studio as they were.
Brad Page: Exactly. Particularly in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, you had a lot of those pop producers that were, you know, they made some great records, no doubt, but it was very much almost an assembly line in a way. It was just, you come in and you do X, Y and Z, and back out on the road. And there wasn’t a lot of room for the acts to experiment. I mean, sometimes they didn’t even get to play on their own records.
Luckily, you had four very strong-willed characters here who weren’t about to let themselves get steamrolled by any producer.
So let’s go through the record, track by track. Because to me, when I think of the all-time great records, what makes a great record– not just a good record, but one that really stands out– to me, it’s sort of a cliche, but I always feel like a great record has to take you on a journey, from start to end. Doesn’t necessarily have to tell a story like a concept record, but it’s got to take you somewhere from the moment you drop the needle, so to speak, ‘till the end of the album. And to me, this record really does. It just takes you to so many different places and it’s such a fantastic record for that. So let’s look at these individual pieces that make this great work of art.
The album kicks off with a track by Freddie, that Freddie wrote called “Death on Two Legs”. And I don’t want to get too deep into it here, because we’re going to actually explore this track in detail on the next episode of the podcast… but just to kind of put it out there, this is one of the nastiest tracks that’s ever been written about another person. I think particularly written about their two managers, who, frankly, I don’t know that really deserve this level of vitriol. But it is a brutal takedown of Barry and Norman Sheffield, who you mentioned before, who had been acting as their managers. And clearly Freddie wasn’t particularly happy with that situation.
Gillian Gaar: Well, the whole band actually was wondering why they weren’t getting more money since their records were selling. And in particular, “Sheer Heart Attack”, the third one, selling more because it was the most successful. And Norman, in his book, which he called “Life on Two Legs”, he said that Queen had such expenses, such high expenses that they were still in debt to the company. Freddie in particular, always wanting a new costume to wear, and they had a kind of elaborate stage show, lights and all the rest of it that they wanted to use. So, he could certainly be right about that. And he was trying to tell them, or was trying to tell them. “Well, as more money comes in, then you’ll earn back this debt and then you go start to get money of your own”. But, yeah, that relationship did not last. And, they worked out a settlement to where the Sheffield’s were no longer involved. But they did get money from the next few albums until a certain period. Norman recognized that the song was about them and they were considering legal action, but he didn’t really want to, you know, hold up their career. It was easier to just make a settlement, let the album come out. And, if you notice, if you read interviews done at the time, Freddy’s careful to never name them. And he doesn’t even say, you know, our former managers or anything. He’s really kind of vague.
Brad Page: Yeah, he’s pretty cagey about it.
Gillian Gaar: They probably came to some agreement that, yes, we don’t want to get in legal trouble either.
Brad Page: Yeah.
Gillian Gaar: And I mean, it’s interesting to know that about the song, the backstory, if you will, but certainly you can relate to it anyway, even if you have no idea what they’re talking about. Because probably everyone’s had a boss or a superior that you didn’t like. Maybe not to that degree… Or a teacher. You know, there’s probably some figure that’s grated on you. Or these days, maybe it’s a politician. So, it has a lot of universal appeal, I would say.
Brad Page: Right, right. I mean, it is certainly a brutal takedown. And Freddie, just the way he digs into those lyrics vocally, it’s just like he’s just like breathing fire.
Gillian Gaar: He’s so over the top, though, that it’s kind of funny. I mean, you sense that his tongue is a bit in cheek there because it’s somewhat delivered with a wink. The animosity is real, but it’s, um, I think it’s tempered a little bit.
Brad Page: And then the song ends, and we go right into about as much of a polar opposite as you could get: Track two, “Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon”, another track written by Freddie.
Gillian Gaar: Oh, I love that one.
Brad Page: I do too. The song is 1 minute and 7 seconds long; it’s like it’s over before you Know it. But even in that little over a minute time, there’s some interesting things going on. Let’s talk about how they recorded the vocal on this track because that’s pretty fun.
Gillian Gaar: You know, these days, I suppose you just hit a switch on the console and get a digital effect to make your voice have that kind of “old timey” sound, like from a Victrola record player. Back then, you had to do those things, you know, the analog way, the hard way. So they had his microphone, they sent the vocal into a microphone in a bucket, to give it that kind of echoey sound, which actually is pretty clever when you think about it. A lot of the things they did on this album were very clever. They thought of all kinds of solutions to get the sounds they wanted.
Brad Page: Right. It’s pretty ingenious. He sings in the studio, as you normally would, but then they pump that audio into a pair of headphones; they put the headphones in a bucket and then stick a mic in the bucket to record the audio kind of bouncing around inside that tin bucket, and you get this sound that really sounds just like an old time radio or Victrola like you said. It’s fun, it’s just a fun little track and I really dig it. And I love the juxtaposition of the fury of “Death On Two Legs” with “Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon”.
Gillian Gaar: Oh yeah, the album starts out that way, it continues on. Each song is kind of, you know, so different from the one before it.
Brad Page: Yeah. And so the next song on the record is Roger Taylor’s moment to shine, and kind of became his signature song. “I’m In Love With My Car”.
Gillian Gaar: This is an aspect that isn’t talked about with Queen very much, but there was always a sense of humor running through what they did. I think not so much in the ‘80’s, and maybe that’s why I didn’t like their music as much in the ‘80’s, I’m more a ‘70’s Queen person.
But, of course, “I’m In Love With My Car” has all these great innuendos in it that are, you know, not unheard of in songs about cars. So he kind of continues that fine tradition.
Brad Page: It’s in 6/8 time, which is not an unusual time signature, but for kind of a more heavy rock song, it’s not typically used in that format, so that’s kind of interesting. It has that sort of false ending at the end, where it fades out and then it comes back in with the guitar part. And I believe Roger actually played rhythm guitar on this track, right?
Gillian Gaar: Yes, yes. Helped to thicken the sound.
Brad Page: Yeah. So you got, I think, both Brian and Roger playing a little guitar at the end of it. And then of course, they overdub Roger’s sports car at the end of it. That is a real car. Yeah, that’s his Alfa Romeo. That’s his actual car. You hear revving it again at the end. It’s it’s not a sound effect, it’s an actual recording.
And then we get John Deacon’s moment, a song that he wrote called “You’re My Best Friend”. And, spoiler alert– this is my favorite track on this record. I think this is an absolutely perfect pop song. I love the sentiment of it, it’s just so pure, and I just think wonderful. And it’s like the second song he wrote, right? Because he had written one track on one of the previous records, and I think this was song number two?
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I mean, you know, technically, I don’t know if he wrote a song in between or not.
Brad Page: Yeah, he may have had other songs, but this was this only the second song he brought to the band. But I mean, wow. You know, this is the kind of song I think you could write and just if you write this once in your life, that’s a big accomplishment. Pretty incredible. Such a great song. He plays the electric piano on it. It’s very distinctive, that electric piano sound.
That’s all John. Incredible bass part on here. If you go back and listen to the bass on this part, super busy. Very McCartney-esque, in that way that Paul’s bass parts are kind of like a song all unto themselves. You don’t really hear any guitar until you get to the third verse, and then Brian does that great harmonized guitar solo. Kind of what I always think of as that guitar orchestration that he was so great at. That’s such a big part of the Queen sound is in here.
Gillian Gaar: And it’s really the first on the album where you can see the group’s harmonies on full display.
Brad Page: Right? Yeah. Those classic Queen harmonies really come into play here. Just a great track.
Gillian Gaar: Oh, yeah.
Brad Page: And then the spotlight turns to Brian. So: so far on the record, we’ve had two Freddy’s songs, we’ve had a Roger song; John doesn’t sing “You’re My Best Friend”, but it’s really his moment to shine. And then we’ve got “’39”, which is one of Brian May’s featured tracks on the album. He sings it. It’s kind of this, it’s a sci-fi folk song, which is a genre all of its own.
Gillian Gaar: I think Brian had to himself.
Brad Page: Yeah, yeah, I can’t think of too many other sci-fi folk songs out there.
John Deacon learned to play the upright bass specifically for this one. It became a real staple of the Queen’s setlist. They would play this live in kind of their acoustic section.
Gillian Gaar: Yes. They’d come down to the front of the stage.
Brad Page: Yeah. Brian on vocal; it’s a pretty heartfelt vocal. And, you talk about it in the book, that ostensibly the song is about the concept of when you go out in space and you travel at the speed of light, a year might pass for you between the time your journey begins and ends. But back on Earth, like 100 years could have passed. So he comes back to Earth, He’s a year older, but his family, his wife has probably passed away at this point, or she’s an old woman, and his kids are fully grown. He’s missed all of that.
But in your book, you have quotes of him talking about that’s kind of like how he felt as a touring musician. Going out on the road, on tour, and then coming back, you’re almost a different person than the family you left behind, which I think is fascinating.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, it’s sort of an allegory as well as just being the song about interplanetary travel. I’ve read something similar from other musicians; especially if you’re on a big tour, a big major tour, that there’s sort of a disconnect when you come off the road and then you get back to, quote, real life with, maybe you’re married, your spouse and your family… you haven’t been dealing with them, you’ve been dealing with all this other stuff. And if you’re a big band, you know, you’re catered to all the time, right? And now you’re back home and wait, “I’ve got to get my own dinner?”
Brad Page: Yeah. “I have to take out the garbage?”
Gillian Gaar: “What do you mean, mow the lawn?”
Brad Page: Yeah, yeah. And meanwhile, your family at home has been living their lives, you know, they’re almost on a separate path than you are. It’s no wonder so many of these relationships just… they fail because it’s such a hard thing. It’s nobody’s fault, you know, it’s just the nature of being a touring musician. You’re kind of in your own world and then you have to come back and reorient yourself into, quote, unquote, real life. And it’s kind of a weird thing… but I love how this song gets at that. And there’s a point towards the end of the song where the music breaks and he just says, “Pity me”. And just. I don’t know, the way he sings that, to me, there’s like some real emotion in that, that’s getting at something deeper than just the story that he’s telling.
And then that’s followed up by another song written by Brian, a track called “Sweet Lady”. This is kind of the one that sort of gets short shrift on this record, I think. The one nobody ever talks about.
Gillian Gaar: Well, it is the weakest track, I would say, on the album, certainly.
Brad Page: You know, I love the guitar riff. I think it’s a great guitar riff. But somehow it never quite seems to take off or to gel, I guess.
At the end of the song, the band kind of tries to ramp it up and go into overdrive, but somehow it feels smaller to me, uh, when it should feel bigger.
I think it’s almost a production failure. It’s not a terrible song by any stretch, but it’s kind of tough to live up to all the rest of the tracks on this record, I think.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, I think that fade out– and here, I’m looking it up– it lasts about a minute and a half. I think that’s my favorite part. That’s when they really sound the most engaged in the song. Because I have to say, the rest of it, I don’t know, there’s almost kind of a forced Quality. It’s kind of leaden.
Brad Page: Yeah, yeah… Brian was trying to do this thing of having 3/4 time in the verse and 4/4 time in the chorus, and it almost feels, in a way, like maybe more of like an exercise than a finished product, if you know what I mean. Like, it’s nice idea but doesn’t necessarily go anywhere.
Gillian Gaar: Mhm.
Brad Page: Again, I really do dig that guitar riff I think it’s a great guitar riff. So, I don’t want to completely crap this on this song, but you know, it’s on a record that’s chock full of, I think, masterpieces. So you know, something’s got to come last, right?
And then side one closes out with another one of Freddie’s old timey songs, “Seaside Rendezvous”, which I think has a fantastic vocal by Freddie.
Only he could do a song like this and pull it off that way.
Gillian Gaar: Well, that was the aspect I liked about Queen, in particular that camp side that Freddie embodied. Because I grew up listening to musicals, and it was fun reading Mark Blake’s book on Queen, “Is This The Real Life”, and hearing what a fan Freddie was of the musical “Cabaret”, the movie in particular. And I was, too. Probably appreciating a different level from him, because I was still in junior high school. So, I always liked that aspect. So I kind of, I understood more where those songs were coming from. And maybe I think some of the rock contingent didn’t quite get that. Or maybe they were just things they tolerated or put up with from Queen. But I always liked those type of songs.
Brad Page: I do too. And it’s a very Beatle-esque kind of thing, too, right? ‘Cause so many of the great Beatle records would have, usually from McCartney but not necessarily always, you’d have these kind of British music hall throwback-type numbers, and I just think it adds to the, just the whole overall scope of the record. Like I said, sort of taking you on a journey through different musical genres and different times, and I love that. I love a record that just throws all kinds of things at you. And I think these songs hold up as well as the more classic rock numbers. I think “Seaside Rendezvous” was great for that, and I think it’s a great way to wrap up side one.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah. Because of course, that’s how we heard these albums in those days; there was a side one and a side two.
Brad Page: Yep.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. When you think about it, when they were putting the albums together, not like today with the CD thinking what’s going to open and close the album. You had to do that twice, because you had to think of what’s going to open side one and close side one.
Brad Page: Right.
Gillian Gaar: So you have to think of two openings and two closings.
Brad Page: Right. But I think the feel of albums benefited from that. And there was something about that break, where you physically had to flip the tape or flip the album. There was just something about that pause that was like an Act 1, Act 2.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah, it did have that quality.
Brad Page: Yeah. And so speaking of that, side two kicks off with the song that I think was supposed to be the epic on the record. I know Brian always felt that this song kind of got overshadowed by “Bohemian Rhapsody”, which is one of the all-time epics, but “Prophet’s Song” is the song that kicks off side two, and it’s really an intense piece. What’s your take on this song?
Gillian Gaar: Oh, I always like that one. Especially when you, you know, got your first pair of headphones and you could appreciate the canon part in the middle, with the vocal kind of going around first on one channel, then on the other, and then in the middle.
And that was very exciting. And it was so long.
Brad Page: Yeah, it’s over eight minutes long. I believe it’s the longest song Queen ever did.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I wrote that, and I said technically, on one of the very later posthumous albums, they put this sort of long track together…
Brad Page: Yeah, there’s like an ambient piece that closes out the “Made in Heaven” record.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah.
Brad Page: But that’s not like a “song” song, right.
Gillian Gaar: No. I always, I liked it quite a bit. I do like Brian’s songs, he was the one that was more apt to go into, you know, the realms of fantasy and mythology. That was, well, you saw that in “’39”. And then this similarly is tapping into that.
Brad Page: Yeah, this came From a dream he had, right?
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, yeah, that was the impetus of it. And then he just said it was a very difficult song for him to bring all the different parts together. But, I know he always felt it was overshadowed by “Bohemian Rhapsody”, but I don’t know if it really would have been, say, as successful as “Bohemian Rhapsody” had “Rhapsody” not existed or been on that album.
Brad Page: Right.
Gillian Gaar: I think, because of the length, and then also just the different passages. You had the canon sequence with Freddie’s vocals, but then coming out of that, you have this kind of long rock instrumental section that goes on.
Brad Page: Yeah. “Prophet’s Song”’s not quite as catchy, in terms of… you know, I can’t really picture it ever being a hit on the radio, the way “Bohemian Rhapsody” took off.
Gillian Gaar: Oh, they’d take the middle section out completely. You know they would have done that.
Brad Page: True. Yeah. And if I had one criticism, I think it may go on a little too long.
You’ve got the sound of this wind, which is actually just an air conditioner, like a microphone in front of…
Gillian Gaar: Yes, it was funny.
Brad Page: Right. And this is kind of a kitchen sink thing too, because Brian’s playing a toy koto, which is a Japanese instrument that I think was gifted to him on a Japanese tour.
like a microphone in front of.: Yeah.
Brad Page: You’ve got tape effects in it; there’s one point where they actually, you hear the sound of the tape starting from dead stop. You know, when you turn a tape on, it doesn’t immediately… It’s not like a cassette, you know, these reel to reel tapes, they took a second to ramp up to full speed. And so you’d kind of get that ramp up sound. And they actually used that in here. They edited that in, which is very difficult to do.
Gillian Gaar: Well, especially then you’d have to cut the tape and, you know, like literally tape it back in there. Yeah.
Brad Page: Lterally editing with razor blade and splicer tape. You could not afford to screw up. You really had to know what you were doing or the whole thing would be trashed. Wasn’t for the faint-hearted.
And then you have this beautiful acoustic guitar at the end of it that turns into the next track. Freddie’s piano comes in, and you get the song Love Of My Life, which is one of the most beautiful songs that Freddie ever wrote and ever sang. Let’s talk about that song.
Gillian Gaar: Well, I think it was Brian who said that later on in the ‘80’s, Freddie was somehow a bit insecure about his piano playing. So in the ‘80’s, he didn’t play piano that much on Queen’s records, they’d get other people in to do it. But, here he does, and I think that makes all the difference. And it just shows how artists can be self-conscious about something that to the rest of us sounds perfectly wonderful.
Gillian Gaar: It’s a beautifully performed piano part.
Brad Page: And you see the classical influence. I mean we had, you know, his love of vaudeville in the earlier songs. But now the classical influence comes in to play, very strongly on this number.
Brad Page: Yeah. And he asked Brian to play harp. Brian had to learn how to play the harp.
I think you say in the book Brian basically had to do it like one chord at a time. ause he didn’t know how to play harp.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. And then he found it would go out of tune pretty frequently. So you’d have to stop and retune it then play the next chord. So yes, he wondered how they managed in symphonies. But, I suppose perhaps in more climate controlled rooms, that’s easier. I have heard that harps can go out of tune very easily.
Brad Page: So yeah, it’s a tricky instrument. The guitar solo: Brian’s guitar work here really feels like what a violin would play; at other points, it feels more like cello. You know, Brian was so great, and we’ll talk about it further on on the record, of just making his guitar… I mean, it always sounds like Brian May’s guitar. That’s the other thing too, is that on one hand, it’s so distinctive. Brian is one of those players where you can hear two or three notes of a Brian May guitar part and say “That’s Brian May”. And at the same time, he can become other instruments, like violins and cellos, and play those parts. What a brilliant player.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. I think he’s underrated in a lot of ways. Perhaps people remember the big guitar riffs, the signature guitar riffs, something like “Tie Your Mother Down”. But he was just very inventive and very expressive. I mean, think about “Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon”. You know, his little guitar part at the end there, which is just so fun, and it’s probably only 10 seconds or 20 seconds. I think people overlook that side of his skills.
Brad Page: Yeah. Just incredibly versatile as a player and yet always sounding like Brian May.
It’s an amazing track. It’s one of their greatest ballads, if not their best ballad.
Gillian Gaar: Yes, it probably is the best ballad. Freddie’s best ballad. Yeah, certainly.
Brad Page: And one of the things that I love about this song, and just in general sort of fascinates me about music and songs in general, is that they would play this song live– and it would be a big part of their live set– but it became something else. They would do it acoustically, basically just Brian, I think, maybe John playing bass, and Freddie singing, but the audience would sing with him. The song kind of became this whole other thing.
It’s like this heartbreaking kind of lonely song on the album…
Gillian Gaar: Yes.
Brad Page: …but when they brought it live, you would get this 10,000, 20,000 people singing it, and it becomes something else.
Brad Page: How this song of one man’s broken heart kind of became almost an anthem in a way. And sung by 20,000 people, all kind of sharing the same feeling. It’s just, it’s just great. And to me, that’s a sign of a great song; it can withstand being taken apart and performed in different ways, but still always works.
Gillian Gaar: Mhm.
Brad Page: That’s followed by another Brian May song. Another song that he takes the lead vocal on, a song called “Good Company”.
Brad Page: That’s another favorite.
Brad Page: Yeah, he plays ukulele on it, as well as taking the vocal. He turns his guitar into an entire brass band.
Gillian Gaar: I know, it was remarkable. And just talking about creating the horn parts by recording them one note at a time. So, it was just an incredible amount of effort that he put into just getting it just right. That was typical of his meticulous approach to his music like that.
Brad Page: Just incredible amount of work for, again, it’s probably 30 seconds worth of music, but it probably took weeks of work.
Gillian Gaar: Mhm.
Brad Page: There’s one interesting thing in this song where lyrically he rhymes the line “My very good friends and me” with “The girl from Number Four”, which doesn’t even rhyme, right? You’d think it’d be “The girl from Number Three”.
Gillian Gaar: Number three, but you’re right.
Brad Page: It’s got to be an intentional, like, well, “I’m not going to go where you think I’m go going to go. You think I’m going to say three, I’m saying four”.
I love the way at the end of this song there’s this guitar trill that’s kind of an unresolved thing.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah, it’s like this minor discord and it gives you a little, it kind of leaves the song hanging, sort of a bittersweet note.
Brad Page: But that also takes you into “Bohemian Rhapsody” and the a capella intro of that. Just the way that flows is really interesting.
Brad Page: So then, of course, that leads us to the last track on the album, Freddie’s masterpiece. I mean, I don’t know what more we could say about the song that hasn’t been said a million times by other people, but it is a tour de force. I mean, it’s iconic. It’s hard to think of any song more iconic. There are songs as iconic, but I don’t know if there are any that are more iconic than “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
Gillian Gaar: You know, we’ve been talking about the different styles on the album, and this has all those different styles in one song.
Brad Page: Yeah, yeah, exactly. You’ve got just every element that makes Queen great; that they’re able to do all these different things, and do them masterfully. And it’s all crammed into this one song.
I love the little touches, like after he sings “Shiver down my spine”, you get that kind of metallic clanging, which is actually Brian hitting the strings behind the bridge on his guitar.
And you’ve got that big gong at the end of it.
Gillian Gaar: Yes. It really was remarkable. And to think of that being played on the radio. I don’t know that a track like that could get played on the radio these days, or would get played, rather.
Brad Page: Right. This song is sui generis, to use a big word. You can’t think of anything like, “Oh, well, that’s just like this other song”.
It’s hard to come to a song like this and hear it fresh. Sometimes you have to kind of force yourself to just to flush it out and try to hear it as it sounded in 1975 and what, like, a shock it was.
Gillian Gaar: Yeah. Uh, people say the same thing about “Stairway to Heaven”, too. Just overplayed. And perhaps you could say that about “Hey Jude”, the Beatles song. So much out there. But younger people, though, who maybe haven’t had all that exposure, as much exposure to it in things like commercials; maybe, you know, each generation comes to it with fresh ears, one can think. You know, I find you have to sort of step back sometimes, and not play that favorite album for a while, and then listen to it again, and you can revisit how great you thought it was.
Brad Page: Yeah, sometimes you just, “Wow, that really is great. I forgot how great that song was”, you know?
And then the album closes on “God Save the Queen”.
Gillian Gaar: I think it sort of underscores the idea that you could see the album as a theatrical presentation.
Brad Page: Mhm.
Gillian Gaar: I mean, the cover kind of suggests a theatrical program that you might get when you were seeing a show.
Brad Page: Yeah– Let’s talk a little bit about the album art. For Queen, it’s kind of an understated cover, I mean, considering how big and flamboyant they could be. It’s basically just very white with some bright colors. And that Queen coat of arms on the front, that Queen logo on the front kind of represents each of the four members of the band, right?
Gillian Gaar: Yes. That was designed by Freddie based on their astrological signs. Remember, astrology being such a popular thing then.
Brad Page: And I think you said it kind of feels almost like a theater program or an opera program, kind of the way it’s laid out. It’s very elegant, which befits the title of the record.
Gillian Gaar: Yes, that too. And then, on the inside; it’s a gatefold, having the lyrics and the portraits of the band members, they look like headshots– always made me think of headshots, the kind of things that actors and performers would use to pass out to agents and so on.
Brad Page: It’s just a very complimentary album design to go with this record, and the music that’s contained within. I really love the whole package of it.
So the album comes out in November 1975.What happens?
Gillian Gaar: You know, if you look at the reviews at the time… I mean, there are some raves, but there are also some, they did get some mixed reviews as well. Just because it was so elaborate and so many different styles, and people were sort of not sure how to take this. But certainly the sales came out strong, and soon they had a number one album & single, right away in England; I don’t think either of those got to a number one in America, interestingly. But yeah, certainly in England. And it broke through, gave them their number ones and around the world it certainly performed strong, got in the top 10. It was the breakthrough they had wanted and waited for, and worked so hard for.
Brad Page: Yeah, no doubt. This is the record that really brought them to that higher level, that broke them, made them legends and again, when I think of the great records, the great albums, this is absolutely one that’s always up there for me. I just think it’s an incredible record.
By the time this episode airs, the book will be out April 1st. I encourage anyone who’s listened to the show that’s a Queen fan of any measure– Go pick it up. It’s great. It’s just a great fun read and it’s a beautiful package. Jillian, they really did a wonderful job putting the book together. It looks great. Packaging is great. It looks beautiful on your bookshelf.
Gillian Gaar: It’s got a golden spine, folks. It’s in a slip case and it has a lovely golden spine.
Brad Page: Yeah, it’s befitting a band as elegant as Queen, for sure. You can find it on Amazon, but of course, if you can get it from your local bookshop, please do. Wherever you get it, get it. You won’t be disappointed.
I love the book, I love the album and I love the chance to talk to you about both the book and the album. So, thanks so much for coming on the show. I really, really appreciate it.
Brad Page: Well, you’re welcome. I had a great time.
Brad Page: Thanks, Gillian.
The book is called “Queen and A Night At The Opera” 50 Years” by Jillian G. Gaar. It’s a must-have for Queen fans.
One of my favorite places to order books from is bookshop.org. When you order from them, you’re actually supporting your local bookstore, so it’s always a great place to get any book. Look, I’m not making any money from this… I’m not getting a kickback, I’m not sponsored by any of this. I just genuinely enjoyed Gillian’s book and I think you will, too.
I’ll be back here in two weeks, digging deeper into “Death On Two Legs”. So I will see you then. Until then, take care of those you call your own and keep good company.
“Somebody To Love” (Freddie Mercury) Copyright 1976 Queen Music Ltd.
Queen were at the top of their game and weren’t resting on their laurels when they released “Somebody To Love” as a single in 1976. Building on the layered vocals they pioneered on “Bohemian Rhapsody” the year before, “Somebody To Love” was inspired by Freddie’s love for Aretha Franklin. On this episode, we examine the various elements of this outstanding track.
“Somebody To Love” (Freddie Mercury) Copyright 1976 Queen Music Ltd. Copyright Renewed All Rights Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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TRANSCRIPT:
Tie your mother down, because it’s time for another edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. I’m your host, Brad Page, and each episode here on the Pantheon Podcast Network, I pick one of my favorite songs and we dive into it together, listening to all the elements that make it a great song. Don’t worry if you’re not a musician, because we don’t get into music theory or technical jargon, but the performances, the arrangement and the production– that’s all fair game here.
This time around, we’re revisiting a legendary band that, if anything, is more popular and respected today than ever. And this song happens to be one of their biggest hits. It’s Queen, with “Somebody To Love”.
Back in episode number 63, we explored “Keep Yourself Alive”, one of Queen’s earliest songs. If you’d like to hear that show, you can find it on our website or in your podcast feed.
This time we’re visiting Queen during their middle period, when they had just become huge stars; they had released “Bohemian Rhapsody”, and of course, it just knocked everyone out. It was a huge hit and the album that preceded it, “Night at the Opera”, was a masterpiece, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums of the decade.
So you would think the band would feel themselves under tremendous pressure for the follow up, but more than anything, they felt freedom. The success of “Night at the Opera” gave them freedom, financially and creatively. So during the summer of 1976, they headed into their next album with confidence.
They had worked with producer Roy Thomas Baker on the previous couple of albums, but this time they decided to produce the album themselves with the help of sound engineer Mike Stone, who had also worked on their last few albums.
Most of the recording for the album was done at the Manor Studio, an actual manor house owned by Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Records. They wrapped up recording with some sessions at SARM East and Wessex Sound studios. And in December 1976, the album was released.
With another nod to the Marks Brothers, they named this album “A Day at the Races”. The first single from the album was “Somebody to Love”. The song was written by Freddie Mercury and totally inspired by his love for Aretha Franklin. According to guitarist Brian May, Freddie wanted to be Aretha Franklin.
This was Freddy’s version of gospel, or at least as close as an Englishman born in Zanzibar was going to get. And Freddie was really proud of this song. He even said that “Bohemian Rhapsody” was okay, a big hit, but “Somebody To Love” was a better song. The band loved it, too. Brian May remembers thinking,” this is going to be something great”.
The song features Brian May on guitar, John Deacon on bass, Roger Taylor on drums, and Freddie Mercury on piano and lead vocal. The backing vocals are all by Freddie, Brian and Roger. Nobody else, just their three voices overdubbed multiple times.
I remember as a kid, the first time I saw the video for this song, I thought, “wait a minute, there’s only four people in this band”. I figured there had to be at least a dozen people. That was the first song where I learned about overdubbing.
So let’s get into it. If you listen closely, the very first thing you hear is a piano chord, very faintly in the background. I’m going to turn that up as much as I can just so you can hear it a little clearer. I assume that chord was there just to establish the key before they start singing. The next thing we hear is the solitary falsetto voice of Fredie Mercury.
[Music]
Then the sounds of Roger Taylor, Brian May and Freddie, overdubbed multiple times to create a virtual gospel choir.
[Music]
There’s a brief pause, and then Freddie comes in on piano. You can hear Roger Taylor hit his hi-hat, and then the bass and drums come in together.
All right, let’s talk about the rhythm or the meter of this song.
Now, I always say that we don’t get into music theory here. We try not to get too technical. And honestly, I’m not really interested in that stuff myself. But hang in there with me here because I want to look at the time signature of this song.
Part of what makes this song great is the feel of the song. And that feel, that groove, that rhythm is all due to the time signature. So let’s talk about it.
Your typical rock or pop song. Uh, most songs really are in 4/4 time. That means four beats per measure. You count 1-2-3-4 and then you loop back around, right? Some songs are in ¾ time. That’s three beats per measure. That’s most commonly associated with waltzes. This song is in 12/8 time.
That sounds complex, but 12/8 time actually has a really natural, flowing feel to it. And the thing that’s kind of cool about it is that it’s sort of a mix or a mashup of, 4/4 and 3/4 time together. It’s kind of like you have a 3/4 feel nestled within a 4/4 rhythm.
So you can count the song out as if it was in 4/4 time, like this: 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4.
But when you go a layer deeper, you can feel the 3/4 rhythm, like this one, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3.
So, simplifying it a bit, you have four groups of three: 1-2-3, 2-2-3, 3-2-3, 4-2-3. So, you end up with this sort of swirling, spiraling feel– it works perfectly for this song.
And a little tip to store away for future reference: If you’re ever listening to a song and you can count it in both 3/4 and 4/4 time, and you’re not sure which one it really is, it just might be in 12/8 time. Now, let’s listen to this first verse:
[Music]
The first line of that verse, “Each morning I get up, I die a little”, that’s pretty bleak. The lyrics to this song are a little dark. It’s not a joyful song. Let’s focus on the vocals here.
[Music]
I really like the way Roger Taylor’s drums accent that part. Let’s listen to that.
There’s a little instrumental break before we get to the next verse.
“I work till I ache in my bones”. I used to think he sang “Ache in my balls” there. But either way, I get the feeling.
[Music]
Okay, a couple of things to note here. First, John Deacon is playing a great bass part. And Freddie’s vocals during this section– Incredible.
[Music]
So great. He keeps that intensity up right into this next section.
This is the first time in the song that we hear Brian May’s guitar. Up until now, it’s just been piano, bass and drums with all the layered vocals. You don’t really realize just how stripped down the instrumentation is. Brian’s been sitting it out so far, but he starts to add some guitar tracks here. Let’s check those out.
I’m hearing three guitar parts, one on the left and one on the right. Both of those are playing pretty much the same thing. And a third guitar part right in the center.
Brian May, one of the great guitar players of all time. Both his style and his sound are immediately recognizable. That’s something that few guitarists really achieve. Some of that sound can be chalked up to his custom made “Red Special” guitar that he built himself, but it’s more than that. Any great guitarist, the sound is in the fingers, and he’d sound like Brian May regardless of what guitar or amp he was playing through. Let’s listen to this solo.
[Music]
Queen was just one of those bands where every member was at the top of their game. Let’s hear the next section.
[Music]
Another nice bass run from John Deacon. Let’s go back and hear that.
[Music]
And let’s go back and listen to just the vocal tracks for this verse.
[Music]
Of course, this is where they pause for the choral section that starts off soft, and slowly builds. Let’s play through this whole section and just listen to how the vocal layers continue to develop and change each cycle.
Roger Taylor builds up the drum part too, and hand claps are added. If you can listen on headphones here, I recommend it because you can really hear the subtle placement of different vocal layers across the stereo field that really adds depth to this section.
[Music]
Freddie is just great there at the end. And just when you think the song is over, they kick right back in.
[Music]
Let’s go back to the final mix, and notice how Freddie is pounding on one note on the piano here.
[Music]
I love that ending. It’s like he’s drifting off to sleep, just exhausted from pouring his heart out.
[Music]
“Somebody To Love” by Queen.
As far as I’m concerned, “Night at the Opera” and “Day at the Races” are two of a perfect pair. Two masterpieces. The fact that one band could create two albums like this back-to-back, only a year apart… it’s incredible, and a testament to just how great this band was. There were more great Queen albums to come, but for me, these two albums are the pinnacle.
Thanks for joining me for this edition of the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast. We are part of the Pantheon Network of podcasts, home to many other shows that celebrate the artists and the music that we all love.
New episodes of this show are released on the 1st and the 15th of every month. So I’ll be back soon with our next episode. Until then, you can listen to all of our previous shows on our website, lovethatsongpodcast.com. You can also find this show wherever you listen to podcasts.
You can keep in touch with us on Facebook, just look for the “I’m In Love With That Song” podcast and you’ll find us. If you’d like to leave a review or comments, the best place to do that is on podchaser.com. And if you’d really like to support the show, the best thing you can do is just tell people about it. Share it with your friends.
Thanks again for listening to this episode on Queen and “Somebody To Love”.
We’re back with another “Albums That Made Us” episode; this time my guest is author Christy Alexander Hallberg, whose new novel Searching For Jimmy Page is a must-read for any Led Zeppelin fan. On this episode, Christy shares how discovering “Led Zeppelin IV” was a life-changing moment, how the music has brought comfort over the years, and inspired her book. We also discuss one of my first album purchases, Queen’s “Day At The Races”.
Buy the book here: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/
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"Keep Yourself Alive" (Brian May) Copyright 1972 Queen Music Ltd
Some bands take time to develop a unique sound, but Queen sounded like Queen right from the beginning. “Keep Yourself Alive” was the opening track on their first album, and it contains all the requisite Queen elements: the heavy riffs & orchestrated guitars, the vocal harmonies, dramatic musical shifts and Freddie’s powerful voice. The band would go on to scale bigger heights, but the magic was there from the start. Let’s have a listen.
“Keep Yourself Alive” (Brian May) Copyright 1972 Queen Music Ltd
— This show is one of many great music-related podcasts on the Pantheon network. You should check them out! And remember to subscribe to this show, so you never miss an episode.
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